Big Game Hunting in Southern Africa: Percy Selous’ Narrative of Successful Hunting Expeditions in the Bechuanaland and South Africa (1897) (English Edition)

PERCY SELOUS (who must not be confused with his cousin that more famous sportsman F. C. Selous), is a hunter who has travelled far and killed most varieties of big game. He has hunted lions, leopards, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and antelopes in South Africa. In this volume he tells us the story of his sporting adventures. Mr. Selous tells us quite candidly that he shot for gain; whether shooting lions in Bechuana deserts, or collecting beetles on the banks of the Orange River, he always had an eye to the main chance. The hunter's trade is dangerous and honest; it has always had a fascination to men who, like the author, “prefer the backwoods and their concomitants to all the luxury and pleasures of cities.” The stories of hunters' lives help to keep up the spirit of adventure, and are therefore to be welcomed.

Percy Selous writes:
“SOME eight years ago, I found myself stranded in Bechuanaland, whither I had followed a force of irregular cavalry, raised by Colonel Methuen, for operating, should the exigency arise, against the Transvaal Boers, whose filibustering raids across the border were getting worse and worse. The regiment was to be mainly made up of men who were at home in the saddle and with the rifle, —hunting men and yeomanry.”
This is a collection of chatty sketches of sport and adventure in Southern Africa; book as a whole is easily readable and enjoyable.


CONTENTS
I. LEOPARD HUNTING IN BECHUANALAND.
II. LION HUNTING IN SOUTH AFRICA.
III. LIONS AGAIN.
IV. HOW I SHOT MY RHINOCEROSES.
V. SHOOTING HIPPOPOTAMI ON THE LIMPOPO RIVER.


Originally published in 1897; reformatted for the Kindle; may contain an occasional imperfection.